Retail startup Autone announced Wednesday that it successfully secured $17 million in a Series A funding round. The financing was led by General Catalyst with backing from Y Combinator, Speedinvest, Seedcamp, Motier, Financière Saint James, and 2100 VC.
London-based startup Autone was established in 2021 to reimagine inventory management. With the belief that traditional inventory management systems are no longer efficient for retailers, the platform Autone was built to let business users make optimal decisions easily and quickly.
“Autone acts as an intelligence layer on top of the company’s existing infrastructure, turning data into decisions at lightning speed,” according to Y Combinator.
In a statement, the company said that the new capital will be put forward to continue Autone’s mission to transform retail through AI-driven innovation under the supervision of industry experts.
Some particular goals the retail startup plans to utilize their Series A fund are expanding internationally to US, Europe and beyond, aiming for mid-market retailers and premium brands; advancing AI and machine learning algorithms through R&D to achieve operational efficiency and accuracy; customizing insights to provide tailored and actionable solutions for retailers.
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Founders Adil Bouhdadi and Harry Glucksmann-Cheslaw met at Alexander McQueen where they developed a data-driven platform that not only solved pressing issues but also tripled the brand’s revenue to over $800 million in just five years. After successfully growing McQueen’s business, the duo kept receiving requests from old colleagues to solve similar problems.
Realizing this was a pattern across the industry, they decided to build an all-in-one solution, Autone.
Currently, the retail platform is used by over 50 global brands like Courreges, Roberto Cavalli, Stussy, and Zadig & Voltaire.
Addressing some of the most prevalent challenges in retail like overstocking, cost inefficiencies, burn out for retail workers and more, Autone strives to be an impact-driven firm.
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The startup reported up to a 55% reduction in inventory levels, a 25% increase in forecasting accuracy, a 30% increase in sales, and saved 45 hours per week on manual tasks.